ARLINGTON, Texas -- Jameis Winston threw for 370 yards and scored on a 28-yard run, and No. 1 Florida State opened defense of its national title with a 37-31 victory Saturday night over Oklahoma State on the same field where this season's champion will be crowned.
Winston wasn't nearly as efficient as he was in the college debut that jump-started his Heisman Trophy season a year ago, but made plays when he had to as the Seminoles tied a school record with their 17th straight victory.
The Cowboys were 19-point underdogs in the $1.2 billion home of the Dallas Cowboys but stayed close when J.W. Walsh matched Winston's scoring run with a 24-yard sprint and dive across the goal line to get within 27-24 early in the fourth quarter.
Winston's only passing touchdown was a 50-yarder to Rashad Greene, who had 203 yards receiving.
No. 3 Oregon 62, South Dakota 13
EUGENE, Ore. -- Marcus Mariota threw for 267 yards and three touchdowns and ran for one more score for Oregon before sitting out the second half.
Running back Byron Marshall was Oregon's top receiver with eight catches for 138 yards and two touchdowns. Freshman Royce Freeman, a five-star recruit out of Imperial, California, ran for 75 yards and two more scores.
The Ducks have won 10 straight home openers.
Mariota's 62-yard touchdown pass to Dwayne Stanford on Oregon's first series of the game gave him the Ducks' career record for touchdowns with 79 (64 pass, 14 rush and one reception), surpassing Joey Harrington.
No. 4 Oklahoma 48, Louisiana Tech 16
NORMAN, Okla. -- Trevor Knight threw for 253 yards and a touchdown and Keith Ford had 116 yards from scrimmage and two touchdowns for Oklahoma.
Ford ran for 51 yards and caught four passes for 65 yards for the Sooners, who rolled to a 31-0 lead in the second quarter in the opener for both teams. Samaje Perine ran for 77 yards and a touchdown and Alex Ross ran for rushed two scores.
Zack Sanchez led Oklahoma's defense with an interception and a blocked field goal. Oklahoma linebacker Jordan Evans was ejected in the second quarter for targeting when he tried to make a play against quarterback Cody Sokol.
Sokol, an Iowa transfer in his first career start, threw for 191 yards and two touchdowns.
No. 12 Georgia 45, No. 16 Clemson 21
ATHENS, Ga. -- Todd Gurley ran for 198 yards and three touchdowns and returned a kickoff 100 yards for another score for Georgia.
If rating Heisman Trophy favorites after Week 1, Gurley would surely be among the favorites. He made the most of his limited touches on a sweltering night between the hedges, averaging 17.2 yards every time he got his hands on the ball. He set a school record for all-purpose yards with 293, breaking the record of 290 set by Rodney Hampton in 1987.
Georgia broke open a game that was tied 21-all at halftime, shutting down Clemson and a fast-break offense that didn't look nearly as effective without record-setting quarterback Tajh Boyd and star receiver Sammy Watkins.
Hutson Mason turned in a nondescript performance in the first game of his only full season as Georgia's starting quarterback.
No. 13 LSU 28, No. 14 Wisconsin 24
HOUSTON -- Kenny Hilliard scored on a 28-yard touchdown run to cap LSU's fourth-quarter rally against Wisconsin at NRG Stadium.
The Tigers trailed 24-21 when Jalen Mills intercepted Tanner McEvoy's pass at the LSU 47 with 11:04 left. Hilliard ran for 53 yards on the ensuing drive, capping it with a sprint through a hole on the right side.
The Tigers extended the nation's longest regular-season nonconference winning streak to 46 games after coming back from a 24-7 deficit in the fourth quarter.
The Badgers seemed to have the game in hand after Corey Clement scored in the third quarter. Colby Delahoussaye kicked two field goals and Anthony Jennings threw a 35-yard touchdown pass to John Diarse to start LSU's rally. Jennings hit Trey Quinn for a 2-point conversion to cut the deficit to three.
No. 15 USC 52, Fresno St. 13
LOS ANGELES -- Cody Kessler threw for 394 yards and four touchdowns and Southern California ended a trying week with victory in Steve Sarkisian's debut as the Trojans' coach.
The Trojans ran a school- and Pac-12 record 105 plays while racking up 37 first downs and 702 yards of total offense to Fresno State's 16 first downs and 315 yards.
In all, 10 Trojans caught passes in Sarkisian's up-tempo offense.
For USC, the victory comes at the end of a distracting week for Sarkisian, punctuated by a tale of heroism by suspended defensive captain Josh Shaw that turned out to be a lie. Backup running back Anthony Brown also quit the team and called Sarkisian a racist, an allegation the coach and other players vehemently denied.
No. 20 Kansas St. 55, S.F. Austin 16
MANHATTAN, Kan. -- Jake Waters threw for 223 yards and accounted for four touchdowns and Charles Jones ran for a pair of scores for Kansas State.
Waters threw touchdown passes to Tyler Lockett and Kody Cook while also running for two TDs as the Wildcats improved to 21-2 in season openers under longtime coach Bill Snyder.
The road is about to get tougher. Kansas State travels to Iowa State to open Big 12 play next weekend. Then comes a statement game against sixth-ranked Auburn at Bill Snyder Family Stadium.
No. 23 North Carolina 56, Liberty 29
CHAPEL HILL, N.C. -- Marquise Williams accounted for four touchdowns, and Jeff Schoettmer returned an interception for a score in North Carolina's game-turning flurry.
Schoettmer's 19-yard return came during a run of four touchdowns in fewer than 4 minutes that jolted the Tar Heels out of a sluggish and mistake-prone performance.
Liberty led 22-21 with about 6 minutes left in the third quarter before Williams found Mack Hollins for a 33-yard scoring pass. Williams later scored on a 15-yard keeper and backup Mitch Trubisky followed with his first career TD pass for a 49-22 lead with 2:06 left in the quarter.
NO. 25 Washington 17, Hawaii 16
HONOLULU -- John Ross scored on a reverse and a 91-yard catch and Washington held off Hawaii despite a weak second half in coach Chris Petersen's Huskies debut.
The Huskies overcame late pushes from Hawaii and offensive problems late in the game, when their best accomplishment was running out the clock.
Jeff Lindquist threw for 162 yards in his first start for Washington after Cyler Miles was suspended for the game. Hawaii's Joey Iosefa ran for 143 yards and a touchdown.
Sports on 09/01/2014